Tomaru, kangaeru...

After a weekend of tsunami strength winds and sub freezing temperatures I have decided that it was a good weekend.

Saturdays 49 mile road race started 2 hours later than originally slotted in hopes of giving the riders some slightly warmer temps and less chance of snow. I definitely discovered the secret to keeping warm on those cold days. After all was said and done I was dripping in sweat. At the outset, my personal goals were to keep with the pack as long as I could, and to just shut off the pain. I was able to stay up there for three quarters of the first lap, then it was time for some time trial training. On the turn after the damn on the second lap I went down. Not really sure what caused it, but there went my goal of having no accidents in the road racing venue. After a short time of being stunned, I straightened a few things on the bike and got back into the race. Other than cosmetic damage the only other thing was a bent rear der hanger which was remedied by a quick trip to the shop after the race.

It was time for some well needed sleep and a hot as fook shower. Man did that feel good, I showered until my water heater was completely empty. Then I flopped on the couch, watched some movies and hit the hay rather early.

Sunday morning wasn't looking much better than Saturday. Winds were still in the 25 to 25 mph range and the temps were still below freezing. One bonus was that the sun was out. Arrived at the park around 8AM to get my officials training completed and helped score the Mens Masters race.

It was a tad tough to keep warm, though I took my lesson from the prior day and did the same thing. I was warm. Then it was time to race. The temps seemed to have picked up a little, but the winds hadn't died down so it was hard to notice any warming. Goals for this race was to not get lapped by the pack and to stay with them as long as I could. Well, I stayed with them for almost a full lap. Halfway up the last hill on the circuit I started falling off. I kept cranking it though. Hills just completely kill me at this stage in the game. Though, I didn't get lapped, which to myself is a great accomplishment.

It's frustrating not finishing with everyone, but that is the nature of the beast at this time. With continued training and determination things will get better, even if it takes a couple of years. I have to keep reminding myself that one cannot expect overnight improvements, especially from being a smoking, eating, couch potato. That is definitely the big lesson I learned this weekend; that I need to be patient and do what I can at the moment, and look at every aspect of the whole thing as a lesson in improvement.

Thanks to everyone who showed up to race or to spectate, sure hope everyone had a great time. Thanks to the event organizers and officials for putting on a fun race. Even though the weather didn't want to cooperate, it was still fun.

One last thing, there was a raffle at the end of the event on Sunday and yours truly won a lifetime entry to the Spring Classic. woo-hoo!!! Sure hope this race continues to happen every year. :) Hope everyone had a great weekend no matter what you did. Now it's time to get ready for Iowa City in 2 weeks.